6/2/2023 0 Comments Witches by brenda lozanoPowerful and complex, this marks a new turn from an intriguing writer. Renowned Mexican author and PEN Award winner Brenda Lozano’s fourth novel Witches weaves together two parallel narratives that delve deep into the lives of two very different women who live in the same country but inhabit different worlds. Lozano does a wonderful job distinguishing the disparate characters and their fluid identities, and Cleary’s translation strikes the perfect balance of immersion and clarity. Witches, Brenda Lozano ( MacLehose Press 978-7-7, 22.04, 271pp, hc) April 2022. Feliciana demonstrates her power with Zoe, though, by helping her work through her sister’s sexual abuse when they were teens. Brenda Lozano è una scrittrice messicana che si sta facendo molto sentire. A story emerges of Feliciana’s and Paloma’s struggles to become curanderas in a male-dominated family (Paloma, a Muxe, or third-gendered Zapotec person, was assigned male at birth, and Feliciana’s abilities don’t match Paloma’s, whom Feliciana claims could see the future “like it walked in front of her”). Zoe is also eager to meet the famous Feliciana, despite having “never been into supernatural stuff.” The author alternates between Zoe’s urbane narration and transcriptions of her interviews with Feliciana, whose elliptical and mystical language makes for a sharp contrast. Zoe, a 30-something Mexico City journalist exhausted by never-ending stories of femicide and rape, nevertheless feels obligated to cover them “from the trench dug at the newsroom,” and agrees to report on the murder of Feliciana’s cousin Paloma, also a curandera. Feliciana is a curandera, or folk healer, living in a village in San Felipe, Mexico. Mexican writer Lozano ( Loop) delivers a layered narrative about healers, storytelling, and family trauma.
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